Steam trap



May 12, 1936- A G. F. GERDTS 2,040,735

STEAM TRAP Filed July 50, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 G. F, GERDTS STEAM TRAPFiled July 3o, 1934- May l2, 1936.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a si. e

Patented May 12, 1936 UNITED STATES STEAM TRAP Gustav Friedrich Gerdts,Bremen, Germany Application July 30, 1934, serial No. 737,5191/2 InGermany July 31, 1933 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to steam traps for boilers and othervcontainers and embodies mainly improvements towards substantiallyautomatically and continually removing any mud 5 and air together-,withthe condensate. Y

A further object of the invention is to caus any steam escapingundesirably to automatically give a visible rand also Van audible signalof warning.

l I attain these and other minor objects and improvements by providingan auxiliary passage, or passages, and an auxiliary manually operatedvalve for controlling the samehaving a. suitably divided valve chamber,in addition to the main l passage controlled, for instance, by afloat-operated valve, whilst a steam whistle or similar device isinserted in an interrupted section of the discharge pipe or Aconduit soas to be sounded by escaping steam and thesteam or vapour becomingvisible. ,v

, In the accompanying drawings showing myimprovements by way of example,

Fig. 1 is a sectional View of the new steam trap. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview of part of the trap, partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View of part of the trap,

partly broken away. A Fig. 4 is a. sectional view of. a modified form ofthe trap.

Fig 5 is a sectional view of a detail of the trap partly broken away.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a further detail partly broken away.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a further detail partly broken away.

According to the invention spindle h` of the manually actuated valvewhich is screwably mounted in the upper section of the 4-part casing,has a plunger-shaped member g with seats at both ends and is arranged topass through partition m in the valve chamber, the upper Vedge or rim fof which valve member is adapted to control the flow of the condensateinto part x of the valvechamber, the lower edge or rim lY forming theauxiliary valve for controlling the flow toy outlet k through pipe n.and part y of the valve chamber forming the auxiliary passage, pipe nreaching to near the bottom or lowest part of the float chamber tothereby cause the condensate to draw up and remove the mud.

In Fig. 1 the valve member is shown to admit A the flow of thecondensate into the oat chamber to be passed to outlet 1c through thefloat-operated valve and main passage, as is well understood,

whilst the auxiliary Valve is closed by rim Z of the valve member,partition m serving to divide the valve chamber into parts :l: and y,for inflow and discharge, respectively.

In Fig. 2 rim f of the valve member is shown to prevent any inflow ofcondensate, so that there is no pressure in the float chamber and inconsequence the oat-operated valve may be dismounted during operationwithout any danger or inconvenience.

In Fig. 3 the valve member is shown Vin an inl0 termediate, non-seatingposition, the condensate ilowing in freely and then passing up tube nforming the auxiliary passage, at the same time carrying with itwhatever mud has collected at the bottom of the float chamber, to thenpass l5 out through chamber y of the auxiliary valve to outlet 7c,whilst whatever condensate passes through the float-operated valvereachesl at `the same. time outlet lc through the main passage in adirect manner,i. e. not through the auxiliary 20 valve, as indicated byarrows.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7, the valve chamber isprovided with partition s in addition to partition m whereby the valve lchamber is divided into parts x, y and z. Whilst 25 part y is inconnection with pipe n., part z is in connection with passage t shown indotted lines, leading to the highest part of the float chamber.

`In Fig. 4 the valve member freely admits the condensate to the oatchamber through part a: 30 of the. valve chamber but closes theauxiliary valve and therethrough the two auxiliary passages throughparts y and a of the valve chamber, passing to outlet g through the mainpassage as indicated by arrows, when the trap will be capable 30 ofdischarging such large quantities of condensate as present occasionally,for instance when starting operations.

In Fig. 5 is indicated by arrows the discharge of any mud in the floatchamber by means of 40 the condensate flowing up pipe n and through party of the valve .chamber and the auxiliary valve to outlet lc.

In Fig. 6 the auxiliary valve shown is provided with an open' outletpipe, as u, from which flows '5 the condensate into conduit or drainpipe u having a funnel-shaped opening, whereby the advantage is gainedthat any steam escaping becomes clearly visible.

In Fig. 7 the open @niiet conduit u, is rated wiih 50 a whistle, as w,so that any escaping steam will also give an audible signal of warning.In Fig. '7 is also indicated by an arrow the escape of air from thefloat chamber through auxiliary channel t and part a of the auxiliaryvalve. 55

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An important feature of the new valve is that when the auxiliary valveis closed so as not to admit any condensate into part of the valvechamber, as shown in Fig. 2, on dismounting the float chamber the samewill be found to be dry and not containing any mud, by reason of theaction of pipe n, as, after the water has been blown out, any steam dueto revapourization of the water escapes, the pressure then at oncebecoming' nil, makingr it safe and convenient to take the steam trapapart without dirtying the place in which it is located.

The connection between the lower section of the 4-part casing containingthe main passage o leading up from the float-operated valve to the uppersection with outlet 7c is established by means of annular passages, as pand p in the upper and lower sections, respectively, Fig. 3, so that theup'- per section with the connecting pipes may be mounted on the lowersection at any desired angle by means of bolts suitably disposed (notshown) see Fig. 3.

A further important feature of the new trap is that every time theauxiliary valve is operated, there is an automatic release of the airconned in the float chamber, so` that all devices now in use to get ridof the air in steam traps, all of which require more or less constantattendance and care, become superfluous.

The here disclosed auxiliary valve with its system of auxiliary passagesassures all such functions and propensities of an eicient and absolutelyreliable steam trap that are desirable and alsol conducive tocleanliness in handling the same.

Havingdescribed my invention and shown one way in which the same may bereduced to practice, what I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. A steamtrap having a casing, a float chamber, a float-controlled mainpassage and a manually controlled auxiliary passage for discharging mud,comprising, a chamber within the upper part of the casing having a valveseat in a common inlet for both passages, a valve seat in the outlet forthe auxiliary passage, a partition about midway between inlet andauxiliary outlet for separating the two passages, a pipe leading frombelow the partition to the lowest part within the float chamber, and apiston valve passing through the partition adapted to alternately closeor open with its opposing ends the inlet and the auxiliary outlet,respectively, and cause part of the condensate with any mud to flowupward through the said pipe and out of the auxiliary outlet of thechamber.

2. A steamtrap having in a sectioned casing a float chamber afloat-controlled main passage and a manually controlled auxiliarypassage for discharging mud, comprising, a chamber within the uppersection of the trap having a valve seat in a common inlet for bothpassages, a valve seat in the outlet for the auxiliary passage, apartition about midway between inlet and auxiliary outlet for separatingthe two passages, a central opening in the lowest part of the uppersection, a lower section having in its upper part contacting the lowerface of the upper section, an opening registering with the centralopening of the upper section, concentric registering passages in thesaid contacting faces adapted to be angularly transposed, and a pipeleading from the chamber below the partition through the said twocentral openings to the lowest part within the float chamber fordischarging part of the condensate and mud up through the pipe and theauxiliary outlet. L

3. A steamtrap having a casing, a float chamber, a float-controlled mainpassage and a manually controlled auxiliary passage for discharging mud,comprising, a chamber within the upper part of the casing having a valveseat in a common inlet for both passages, a valve seat in the outlet forthe auxiliary passage, two parallel partitions between the inlet and theauxiliary outlet for separating the two passages and for subdividing theauxiliary passage into two paths, a piston valve l1' passing through thepartitions adapted to alternately close or open with its opposing endsthe inlet and the auxiliary outlet, respectively, and controlling withits opposing ends the said two paths of the auxiliary passage, a pipeleading from the lowest part within the float chamber to one of thepaths in the chamber for the discharge of mud, and a passage connectingthe highest part within the float chamber with the other path for thedischarge of air.

4. In a steam trap as characterized by claim 3, an additional,downwardly, open passage from the auxiliary valve for the directdischarge of mud.

GUSTAV FRIEDRICH GERDTS.

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